LIBERALS MAKE BAD SITUATION WORSE
REFUSAL TO ACT ON PEOPLE’S CONCERNS DRIVES ATTITUDES TOWARD EXTREMES
Not many people think of Danes as nasty, uncivilized people. Like Canada, Denmark is one of those countries that usually produces a positive response, even if no one is quite sure why. It just seems like a nice place, with nice people. They produce cheese and some good hockey players. What’s to dislike?
It has some of the world’s highest taxes, and a welfare state to die for. It regularly ranks at the top of the world’s happiest countries.
The level of national contentment is often attributed to something called “hygge,” which is a sort of cosy feeling of social wellbeing, of safety, and shared pleasure in a common community.
Hygge may result from the fact Denmark is overwhelmingly filled with Danes. Almost nine in 10 have at least one parent born in the country. In contrast, Statistics Canada reports Canada’s visible minority population is approaching 25 per cent, with estimates it could reach 34 per cent by 2036. Denmark is a small, cohesive country — just 5.5 million people in an area smaller than Nova Scotia — where people overwhelmingly share similar origins.
And they want to keep it that way. Last week the Danish parliament agreed to set up a deportation centre on a tiny, uninhabited island most recently used to research infectious animal diseases. About 100 migrants will be kept there, mainly those with criminal records or deportation difficulties. Though they won’t be behind bars, and are technically free to leave, there is limited ferry service and they have to be back by night.
The government says it’s just trying to keep the country safe, but one party in the ruling coalition quickly published a celebratory cartoon showing darkskinned man in Islamic dress being dumped on a tiny, empty island.
Denmark joins Australia — another country not generally viewed as backward or brutish — in isolating unwanted migrants in offshore camps. Australia has detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Both are rife with misery. The facility in PNG was ruled illegal by the Papuan courts and is slated to close, though there’s no clear plan on the 700 inhabitants’ future, as they can’t go home and won’t be allowed into Australia. The Nauru site is regularly accused of abusive practices and mental-health mistreatment. Despite strict restrictions on access to Australian soil, 11 children were recently evacuated there for health reasons.
The two countries are testament to what happens, even in tolerant, democratic countries, when opinions on immigration and refugee policies harden. The Danes are alarmed by the influx across Europe of migrants from Syria and the Middle East, and the impact on other, bigger neighbours like Germany and Sweden. Australia’s harsh approach is meant to dissuade would-be migrants from perilous efforts to reach the country by sea.
Canadians still like to think of themselves as welcoming and open-minded, but we’re hardly immune. Quebec’s new provincial government affirmed this week it intends to reduce immigration next year by 20 per cent, and is working on a “values” test and French language standards. Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said the aim is to ensure new arrivals can integrate with Quebec society and find work, though the province is already facing a labour shortage. At 118,000 unfilled jobs, it has the highest vacancy rate in the country.
Concern over immigration was heightened by the surge of illegal arrivals across the Quebec-U.S. border, and Ottawa’s seeming inability to come to grips with it. The Parliamentary Budget Office reports the government spent $340 million last year on illegal — Ottawa insists on using the term “irregular” — border-crossers, and could spend $400 million next year. Municipal officials in Toronto and Montreal have struggled to cope with the influx, which requires housing, language help, care for children and other services. The costs far outpace any help they’ve had from Ottawa.
Despite Liberals’ insistence it has things under control, the influx has created an enormous backlog in claims and heightened public unease. Canadians who suspect the system of being gamed were hardly reassured when the PBO reported that illegal arrivals may act as “anchor relatives” clearing the way for other family members to enter the country and gain direct access to generous benefit programs.
Rather than address concerns, Liberals prefer to demonize critics in much the same way environmental activists lump all dissenting views into one giant pot of deniers and conspiracy nuts. The effect is similar: people who can see past the spin and gamesmanship lose faith that the government is serious about addressing legitimate problems.
Trudeau’s refusal to act on Alberta’s valid concerns over its pipeline needs is what turned a manageable situation into a spreading crisis. His inability to conceive any approach to carbon emissions other than a tax is what led premiers in five provinces to mount a united front in opposition.
His determination to ignore valid concerns about abuse of Canada’s generous immigration and refugee policies is similarly pushing attitudes toward two extremes, unnecessarily exacerbating an already volatile issue.
The Liberals are making a bad situation worse. Once again, convinced of their superior virtue, they can’t seem to get the cotton out of their ears and listen.
LIBERALS PREFER TO DEMONIZE CRITICS.